Reshef Levi is a standup comedian, screenwriter, playwright, actor, and director. Levi started doing standup whilst still in the army. After completing his service, he also began writing for other comedians including Moni Moshonov and Shlomo Bar-aba, Hana Laszlo, and Yaacov Cohen. Later on, Levi became a sketch writer on hit satire programmes Zehu Zeh (‘that’s it’) and Chalomot BeHakitzis (‘daydreaming with Kitzis’), and also wrote several episodes of hit noughties sitcom, Shemesh. In 2002, he created the critically acclaimed police drama, Case Closed (‘tik sagur’) for Israel’s Channel 10, directed by his then-fulltime creative collaborator, Shay Kanot. In 2007, the pair co-created the smash hit crime thriller, The Arbitrator, that had a successful four-series run.
In 2016, Levi co-created The Standups (‘HaStanduppistim’) with Yoav Gross – a programme in which he accompanies famous standup comedians on tour. Whilst on the road, together they come up with jokes and discuss humour and life. The programme lasted two series and was a two-time winner the Israeli Television Academy Award for Best Entertainment Programme.
In 2019, Levi and Tomer Shani co-created the series Nehama, for which he won Best Actor at the CANNESERIES Festival. At the Israeli Television Academy Awards, Nehama took home awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Screenplay in a Comedy Series.
The Indian Patient, an original play by Levi opened at the Beit Lessin Theatre in 2005 and went on to win the Theatre Prize for Best Play. Highlights of Levi’s other playwrighting credits include French Movie (Beit Lessin, 2005), and The Mother-in-Law (Habima National Theatre, 2007) – an adaptation of Andrew Bergman’s play, Social Security. In 2010, whilst Levi was Habima’s resident in-house director, the national theatre premiered his then-latest play, Dancing and Flying.
In 2004, Levi wrote the screenplay for the film Colombian Love (directed by Shay Kanot), which was shown at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Regev’s big screen writing career continued later on with notable feature films such as Lost Islands (2008) and Hunting Elephants (2013). Lost Islands became a breakout box office hit and was watched in cinemas by over 300,000 people. It was featured at the Zurich Film Festival and also won a total of four Ophir Awards for Best Lead Actor (Michael Moshonov), Best Supporting Actor (Shmil Ben Ari), Best Costume Design, and Best Soundtrack.
In 2022, Israeli public broadcaster, Channel 11 (Kan), premiered Levi’s latest series, Carthago, which he co-wrote with his brother, author Yannets Levi, and Tomer Shani. The series was inspired by the life story of siblings, Reshef and Yannets’s father, Eliyahu Levi – a Jewish resistance fighter with the Lehi movement who was deported to a detention camp in Sudan, in the days of British Mandatory Rule of Palestine.
Levi is credited in all works as Reshef and Regev Levy, a penname he has taken to commemorate his late brother, Regev, who was his writing partner in the early days of his career, until his untimely death. Another sibling of Levi’s is children’s author, Yannets Levi.
